It is well-known that in the piston of an internal combustion engine having a cast-iron cylinder liner and an aluminum alloy piston heavy wear in the skirt of the aluminum alloy piston poses a problem, and the surface of the skirt is commonly tin-plated to assure a good initial break-in. Since such a combination of an aluminum cylinder liner and an aluminum alloy piston is liable to seizure and the aluminum alloy piston lacks resistance to wear, chrome-plating of the aluminum cylinder liner to compensate for these drawbacks is also common practice.